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STS.011. Science and Public Policy. Overview. Introduction & CTBT example Congress Regulatory agencies Science advisory panels NGOs Media Courts. Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Verifiable ban? Reliable arsenal? Players: Weapons scientists DoD, DOE, OSTP State Department
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STS.011 Science and Public Policy
Overview • Introduction & CTBT example • Congress • Regulatory agencies • Science advisory panels • NGOs • Media • Courts
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty • Verifiable ban? Reliable arsenal? • Players: • Weapons scientists • DoD, DOE, OSTP • State Department • NGOs • JASONs, NAS • Other countries • Congress
Congress • Little knowledge of science • “Good” outcomes: • Nuclear Waste Policy Act 1982 • Clean Air Act 1970 • Clean Water Act 1977 • National Environmental Policy Act 1970 • “Bad” outcomes: • NWPA amendment • MTBE • CAFÉ standards
Regulatory Agencies • FDA, EPA, NRC, NTSB etc • “Good” decisions • Thalidomide • “Bad” decisions: • Prozac for teenagers • Direct to consumer advertizing of drugs
Science advisory panels • JASONs, NAS, Bioethics advisory panel • Have looked at: • Global warming • Nuclear waste disposition • CTBT • Laser fusion research • Diet (Steve Hilgartner, Science on Stage)
NGOs • Union of Concerned Scientists www.ucsusa.org • Federation of American Scientists (www.fas.org) • Natural Resources Defense Council www.nrdc.org • Council on Responsible Genetics (www.gene-watch.org)
NGO projects • NRDC: • Science Based Stockpile Stewardship • Nuclear targeting (www.nrdc.org/nuclear.default.asp) • UCS: • Ballistic Missile Defense • Scientists and the election • FAS: Secrecy: mirror site for Los Alamos Congressional Research Service reports
Media • Power to cover or ignore • Leaks: • Charles Bowman & accelerator transmutation • Roy Woodruff and SDI • Cold fusion • Soundbiting • Balance • Limits to expertise
courts • DNA & fingerprint evidence • Woburn cancer cluster • National Ignition Facility review • Environmental impact statements • Daubert 1993 Supreme Court decision